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Contact: Bobbie Athon For Immediate Use Public Information Officer July 1, 1998 Kansas Historical Society 6425 SW Sixth Avenue Topeka, KS 66615 785-272-8681, ext. 262 E-mail: khowland@kshs.org A MOMENT IN TIME A monthly series from the Kansas Historical Society "How Those Old Mills Evolved Into Elevators" Today, few Kansans would question the importance of wheat to their state's economy. During harvest time, especially, it is hard not to take note of its significance. But how often do we think about two sister industries, grain storage and milling, both of which have an equally long and interesting history on the plains of Kansas. For nearly a century and a half, the prairies and plains of the Sunflower State have produced wheat and other grains, most notably corn, in abundance, and for most of the last century wheat has been the lynch pin in the state's agricultural economy. All that grain required grinding before it could be used, however, so early on small Kansas mills were built to serve the local needs of the community. By the mid-1880s flour and feed milling had become the state's leading industry, and grain storage facilities (such as grain elevators) dotted the Kansas landscape, becoming a symbol of the state's abundant harvest and economic vitality. Perhaps the first flour, or grist mill was established and operated near present Kansas City -more- A MOMENT IN TIME - Add 2 by Matthias Splitlog, a Wyandotte Indian, about 1852. Splitlog and some other early millers used waterpower to turn the stone burrs, which then ground the corn and wheat kernels into meal or flour. Other millers were soon using steam engines to power their equipment. A few even experimented with wind as their power source. By the 1880s, Kansas communities reported the existence of 350 mills: one-third powered by water and nearly all the rest by steam. Splitlog and his early successors usually operated on a "custom" or toll basis. The miller kept a percentage of the flour as payment for his service and returned the remainder to the farmer, or simply charged a flat fee of perhaps 25 cents per bushel. Either way, after the miller finished his work, the farmer went home with flour or meal ground from the grain he had produced. Soon, however, grain elevators changed the relationship between the farmer and the miller. With storage facilities in the form of elevators available by the 1870s, most millers simply purchased the farmers raw wheat or took it in exchange for a predetermined quantity of flour. The grain for this flour came from storage bins or elevators that had been filled with the produce of many different farms. This practice of mixing grains together made for a more uniform product and a more efficient method of payment. During the 1880s an even greater "revolution" transformed the industry. Hard winter wheat, especially Turkey Red, became the small grain of choice on the Kansas plains, and milling technology adapted to the change. A so-called gradual reduction process using iron or porcelain rollers replaced the old stone burrs, and after 1890 fewer and bigger mills became the rule. The -more- A MOMENT IN TIME - Add 3smaller operator simply could not afford the capital investment required for the new technology. Kansas City became the state's major milling center by 1900, but more than 350 mills of various capacities continued to operate throughout the state, and at least a dozen smaller towns (Topeka, Wichita, Leavenworth, Atchison, Wellington, Coffeyville, Salina, Arkansas City, Hutchinson, Newton, McPherson, and Enterprise) could claim to be significant milling centers well into the twentieth century.For a time, the expansion of the milling industry in Kansas kept pace with the increased production of wheat: 2.5 million bushels in the 1870s, 80 million bushels by 1900, and 172 million by 1914. All this grain also meant the need for more storage space, and elevators, located near the railroad tracks, became an integral part of the Kansas landscape. Most early elevators were made of wood and had a storage capacity of 5,000 to 15,000 bushels of grain. Concrete silos became popular after 1900, in part because they were less susceptible to fire, and by 1917 could be found at Atchison, Clyde, Dexter, Dodge City, McPherson, Solomon Rapids, and WaKeeney. Their storage capacity was probably in the neighborhood of 100,000 bushels; today it would commonly range from 500,000 to more than 1,500,00 bushels. Over the years much has changed in the grain storage and milling industries. Like Kansas farms, elevators and mills are fewer in number but larger in size and production capacity. Overall, they are undoubtedly safer operations as well. Nevertheless, while the threat of fire was reduced with the conversion to concrete and steel silos, for example, dust explosions remained an ever -more- A MOMENT IN TIME - Add 4present hazard. Kansas elevators and mills have earned a relatively good safety record over the years, but as the recent accident at Haysville demonstrates, the grain storage business still carries some significant risks.This year's wheat production is currently being photographed by the Kansas Historical Society in Barton, Cheyenne, Dickinson, Harper, Harvey, Jewell, Kingman, McPherson, Marion, Mitchell, Ottawa, Rawlins, Reno, Rice, Saline, Sedgwick, Sherman, Smith, Sumner, and Thomas counties for an upcoming exhibit. The special exhibit, exploring the state's wheat history and heritage, will run from December 1999 through the end of 2000 at the Kansas Museum of History in Topeka. Families from those counties and from Ford County will be interviewed about wheat farming. Reminiscences, farm records, photographs, and items associated with the wheat harvest are being sought to feature in the exhibit and to be added to the collections. Written accounts of memories of by children, from women helping during harvest or supporting those who did, and from men harvesting or keeping farm activities going during harvest are needed. Of particular interest are descriptions of the usual and the unusual, successes and failures, and what was fun and what wasn't. Questions and comments about the exhibit and information about materials that might be donated or loaned can be sent to the Kansas Historical Society, 6425 SW Sixth Avenue, Topeka, KS 66615-1099; 785-272-8681; TTY 785-272-8683; http://www.kshs.org The Kansas Historical Society does not discriminate on the basis of disability in admission to, access to, or operation of its programs. The Society requests prior notification to accommodate individuals with special needs or disabilities. |
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